Christina’s Motivation

Christina DeFranco's Motivation

I saw the photo in a dentist’s office when I was 7- years old. A naked girl—about my age—running down the street while her village burns behind her. A shock to me that kids my age could be unsafe and living in fear: my first window into a world that is not fair.

I think that was the beginning of my desire to learn about other people’s lives and experiences and to pay close attention to injustices. It planted the seed of curiosity that grew into my lifelong dream of becoming a journalist.

In my 30-year career, I’ve listened to those who have not had a voice, giving them a forum to share their story. Over the years, I’ve exposed a pattern of a rare brain cancer afflicting employees at one of the country’s largest defense contractors, profiled families whose children have suffered with mental illness in a broken system, and helped a family fight a health care behemoth which denied them coverage as their son suffered from life-ending injuries after a beating with a broken beer bottle. Carol Shea and Carol Greco, Karen Kemp and Dana Marie Salvatore, Billy and Maureen Kosbob: Courageous people who felt helpless…they all turned to me to tell their stories.